I hate bad customer service! I always did. And I more than appreciate attentiveness and politeness, even if there is no immediate solution.
This was probably one of the main reasons why I joined the service industry many years ago – to make it a better place for people who are looking for help.
With regards to some other countries and service cultures, it actually would have amused many North Americans what happened when an issue with a product or service arose – the customer was the annoying enemy. Interestingly enough, a lot of industry participants switched their behaviour just within the last few years to compete with a service standard that was long overdue to now survive in a world of thousands of competitors.
Back to the basics here. Why are some customer service or sales employees not where they should be with their mindset? The reason for experiencing a grumpy, impolite or ingenuine – not listening – person on the other side of the line or table is not because these people are bad salespeople. It is because people are not happy with what they do, they don’t care, they are overworked, improperly trained or they don’t have a clear picture of their responsibilities.
So, it is more than likely that the reason why we experience bad customer service is due to leadership or management not seeing or dealing with the issue. It starts with hiring the right people and continues with the maintenance of a flourishing company culture.
A third party with a neutral view and a facilitator for all parties involved is as important as hiring an accountant for the organization.
There are five main reasons to work with a business coach in terms of employee engagement with a proactive or reactive approach:
1. Company Growth (Proactive Approach)
You are about to expand your company size and getting into managing different personalities, mindsets, and approaches.
>> How are you going to facilitate these differences?
2. Merging Cultures (Proactive Approach)
Multiple organizations or teams are about to merge and grow to one corporation or one team. Chances are that you are dealing with “We have always done it that way” approaches, resistance, or stuck success-beliefs that do not match your philosophy.
>> What is your approach to finding common ground and generating an open attitude?
3. Engagement Issues (Reactive Approach)
You are experiencing a lack of output, low motivation, the team spirit drops to a minimum level of interaction, water cooler chats are taking over or TV has priority over deadlines for remote work.
>> How are you motivating your team members and employees to be on the same page with you?
4. High Turnover (Reactive Approach)
People are leaving because they are unmotivated, overworked or underpaid?
You will be amazed by the reasons people really leave and choose your competitor!
>> How are you going to work on employee retention in your business organization?
5. Bad Customer Service (Reactive Approach)
Your output is not what you are envisioning.
There is no progress, your organization gets a lot of complaints and bad reviews – you may or may not know what the reason is?
> How are you going to improve your image internally and externally in order to retain and attract more candidates and clients?
…and there are many more reasons to hire a coach.
You may think that you can answer these questions yourself, especially for the first two points, since you may have read all the books, consumed all online content and you are armed for a fresh start with getting people on board.
It sounds quite easy to grow and blend people into teams or hiring like-minded individuals.
What you really need though is an outer perspective of a professional that accompanies you with your most important project as a growing or fusing organization that you will probably ever have – your work, your success and your daily environment.
Business Coaching is an outside guide to see something inside your workplace from a different angle and perspective. Leadership Coaching – in particular – is there for you to facilitate a happy company culture which people love to be part of. Inside and outside the organization.
My recommendation is to look around and try to find a coach to work with you as a partner, that tackles your situation with a proper solution as your personal, individual, support. It should cost you nothing but your time to have an initial conversation. Ask a few professionals and decide who you feel most comfortable with.
>> If you feel that this person could be me, just click here and we can have a complimentary chat about what you are dealing with right now – and about all the questions you have on your chest with regards to your team, your employees or your proprietorship.
